The original 1Up arcade and bar in LoDo got all of the attention last month as Donkey Kong competitors assembled for the third annual (and second in Denver) Kong Off competitive arcade-gaming championship.

But there was just as much action going on at The 2Up, the barcade’s sister location across town on East Colfax Avenue.

After an early-fall renovation that significantly polished the existing decor and layout of The 2Up, owner Jourdan Adler continued his expansion into the old Kitty’s East adult shop next door, tripling the size of the space and adding a live music stage that will host its first act on Dec. 20, the date of the official debut and reopening.

Kong Off 3, the Donkey Kong world championships, will return to the Denver barcade this year to pit the best classic arcade game players against each other for a shot at the $4,500 purse, as well as bragging rights as the latest/greatest to reach one of the hardest kill screens of all time.

“It’s such an honor to be able to host the Kong Off 3,” Jourdan Adler, owner of the 1up, said in a press release today. “Every year the competition gets stronger as more and more players enter. With 12 players having a top score of 1,000,000+ (last year), we know its going to be an amazing event for both the competitors and fans.”

John Jamshid, rear, watches as Jourdan Adler plays Donkey Kong in the back workshop of the 1Up arcade. The arcade is hosting the annual Kong Off tournament this weekend. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Although the phrase “it’s on like Tron” might sound snappier, there is only one universally accepted way to truly get it on. And that’s like you-know-who.

Ah, Donkey Kong. Mario’s girl-crazy antagonist, who has been slinging barrels and draining allowances since 1981, is leading a classic-gaming renaissance, notably assisted by the 2007 documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.”

Friday through Sunday, the planet’s greatest Donkey Kong players will converge at the 1Up barcade in LoDo for the Kong Off 2 to crown this year’s world champion. Competitors include “King of Kong” stars Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell as well as last year’s winner Hank “Dr. Kong” Chien — not to mention rivals from Australia,

The Nov. 16-18 event was officially announced today but has been generating buzz on the 1Up’s Facebook page for about a week now.

And while battling for the highest score on an ’80s arcade machine may seem like the province of basement-dwellers and nostalgic tech-heads, consider the film-fest acclaim of documentaries like “The King of Kong” and “Chasing Ghosts,” or the rising number of barcades around the country. (The 1Up, in fact, recently opened a sister bar, the 2Up, on Colfax Avenue.)

A&E reporter John Wenzel has covered a variety of topics for The Denver Post over the years, including video games, comedy, music and the fine arts. He's been playing and loving video games since his dad brought home a sweet ColecoVision in 1983. Catch him on PSN as beardsandgum.

Hugh got his start writing for the Cheyenne and Woodmen Edition newspapers in Colorado Springs. In 2011 he moved to Denver where he has written for Denver Urban Spectrum and Colorado Community Media’s Wheat Ridge Transcript. Hugh joined The Denver Post in 2014 as an editorial assistant.